TRANSCRIPT
- Western Australia to become the nation's first state to limit the number of guns someone can own
- Gaza humanitarian shelter shelled, injuring staff, killing family members
- The Kookaburras defeat Spain in FIH Hockey Pro League.
Western Australia is set to become the nation's first jurisdiction to limit the number of guns someone can own under tough new firearm laws introduced to parliament.
The Cook government said the proposed amendments were the most significant gun law reforms in Australia since former prime minister John Howard implemented the National Firearms Agreement in 1996.
Premier Roger Cook says the proposed legislation would impose stricter licensing and storage requirements, compulsory training and health checks for firearms owners, and mandatory disqualifying offences.
He says he wishes to avoid what happens in other countries "when firearms get into the wrong hands".
A state government-sponsored $64.3 million firearms buyback scheme started on Wednesday.
It will run for six months or until the money is exhausted.
Victoria's emergency services are preparing for more perilous weather conditions, a week after bushfires and storms razed properties and left half a million homes and businesses without power.
Temperatures are expected to top 40 degrees in parts of the state, with storms later today ((Thu)) bringing 80 kilometre-per-hour winds and dry lightning.
Total fire bans have been declared for six Victorian regions, with the Mallee, Wimmera, Northern Country, North Central, South West and Central districts all facing an extreme fire danger rating.
Extreme fire warnings have been also issued in South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia, where emergency services have been fighting blazes since early summer
The United Nations says the humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening, with water and the delivery of aid jeopardised by the ongoing fighting.
The UN Secretary-General's spokesman Stephane Dujarric says a humanitarian aid shelter housing civilians was shelled, injuring staff and killing members of their family.
"Our Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, said he is appalled that a mid-sized shelter was shelled last night in Gaza, injuring staff and killing members of their family. In a social media post, Mr. Griffiths said humanitarians are putting their lives on the line and like all civilians, they must be protected."
He says water, sanitation and health issues are threatening the health of Gazans with about 83 per cent of groundwater wells out of service there, and none of the wastewater treatments functioning.
Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have protested outside Britain's High Court for a second day after his defence lawyers launched a final bid to stop his extradition to the United States.
Mr Assange’s lawyers are asking the High Court to grant him a new appeal — his last move in the long-running legal saga that has kept him in a British high-security prison for the past five years.
Lawyers for the U-S government argue Mr Assange should face espionage charges in the U-S because he put innocent lives at risk and went beyond journalism in his bid to solicit, steal and indiscriminately publish classified U-S government documents.
Independent Australian MP Andrew Wilkie spoke outside the court in London.
"The Australian Prime Minister has finally stood up and given a clear, strong signal to the Americans that enough is enough. Regardless of what you think of Julian, this matter must be brought to an end. The extradition must be dropped. The charges must be dropped. He must be busted out of Belmarsh. He must be allowed to be reunited with his family."
The 52-year-old Australian has been indicted on 17 charges of espionage and one charge of computer misuse over his website’s publication of a huge trove of classified U-S documents almost 15 years ago.
Northern Territory communities in West Arnhem Land are calling for a Senate Inquiry into telecommunications companies operating in remote areas.
It follows a 3G Telstra outage which lasted for three weeks.
The system failure affected local pre-paid electricity meters, leaving many without power and in staggering debt.
Maningrida resident Rowena Copper is among those affected.
"I got shocked when I went back home and then I got told we in debit like $500 and then we started to get stress how to find money and pay the power."
To hockey, and the Kookaburras are still flying high at the launch of Olympic year, with a 4-1 hammering of Spain maintaining their perfect start in the Men's FIH Hockey Pro League in India.
Colin Batch's team swept aside the Spanish with four unanswered goals after an early shock.
Goals from Flynn Ogilvie, Nathan Ephraums, Jeremy Hayward and Tim Brand made it five league wins in a row and put the Kookaburras in a strong position.
They are now in second place in the league on a maximum 15 points from five matches as they close in on the Dutch pacesetters.
